atic flowering evergreens which so beautifully clothe the hills of
Greece and this part of Turkey.

When we had crossed the upper ridge of rock, leaving the peak of Athos
towering to the sky on our left, we had to descend the dry bed of a
torrent so full of great stones and fallen rocks, that it appeared
impossible for anything but a goat to travel on such a road. I got off
my mule, and began jumping from one rock to another on the edge of the
precipice; but the sun was so powerful, that in a short time I was
completely exhausted; and on looking at the mules, I saw that one after
another they jumped down so unerringly over chasms and broken rocks,
alighting so precisely in the exact place where there was standing-room
for their feet, that, after a little consideration, I remounted my mule;
and keeping my seat, without holding the bridle, we hopped and skipped
from rock to rock down this extraordinary track, until in due time we
arrived safely at the sea-shore, close to the mouth of the little river
of Xeropotamo. My manuscripts and myself were soon embarked, and with a
favouring breeze we stood out into the Gulf of Monte Santo, and had
leisure to survey the scenery of this superb peninsula as we glided
round the lofty marble rocks and noble forests which formed the
background to the strange and picturesque Byzantine monasteries with
every one of which we had become acquainted.

Being a little nervous on account of the pirates, of whom I had heard
many stories during my sojourn on Mount Athos, I questioned the master
of the vessel on this subject. "Oh," said he, "the sea is now very
quiet; there have been no pirates about the coast for the last
fortnight." This assurance hardly satisfied me. How terrible it would be
to see these precious volumes thrown into the sea, like my unhappy
precursor's MS. of Homer! It was frightful to think of! We were three
days at sea, there being at this fine season very little wind. Once we
thought we were chased by a wicked-looking cutter with a large white
mainsail, which kept to windward of us; but in the end, after some hours
of deadly tribulation, during which I hid the manuscripts as well as I
could under all kinds of rubbish in the hold, we descried the stars and
stripes of America upon her ensign; so then I pulled all the old books
out again. This cutter was, I suppose, a tender to some American
man-of-war. On the evening of the third day we found ourselves safe
under the guns of Ro